The efficacy of Heishunpian (Black顺片)
Apr 18, 2025
Source: Cainiu Health
Dr. Zhang Xiuhong
Introduction
Black Prepared Slices (Hei Shun Pian) can rescue collapsed yang qi and are commonly used for conditions such as profuse sweating, severe vomiting, or excessive diarrhea that lead to sudden depletion of yang qi, manifesting as cold extremities and a faint, nearly imperceptible pulse. It rapidly invigorates yang qi. When used together with dried ginger and甘草 (licorice), it enhances the effect of restoring yang, helping to recover qi and reverse the illness condition.
2. Supplement fire to assist yang: Black Prepared Slices warm and supplement kidney yang and the fire of the Gate of Vitality (Mingmen), improving cold intolerance and cold limbs caused by insufficient kidney yang.
The effects of Heishunpian generally include restoring yang to reverse collapse, supplementing fire to assist yang, warming yang to promote diuresis, dispersing cold to relieve pain, and warming channels to promote circulation.
1. Restoring Yang to Reverse Collapse: Heishunpian can rescue collapsed yang qi and is commonly used to treat profuse sweating, vomiting, diarrhea, and other conditions that cause sudden depletion of yang qi, manifesting as cold limbs and a weak, nearly imperceptible pulse. It rapidly invigorates yang qi and, when used together with dried ginger and licorice, enhances the effect of restoring yang, helping to recover yang qi and reverse the condition.
2. Supplementing Fire to Assist Yang: Heishunpian warms and supplements kidney yang and the fire of the Mingmen (life gate), improving symptoms caused by kidney yang deficiency such as cold intolerance, cold limbs, soreness and weakness of the waist and knees, impotence, and premature ejaculation. It can also enhance spleen yang, treating epigastric and abdominal cold pain and poor appetite with loose stools due to spleen yang deficiency, promoting the restoration of yang qi in internal organs and maintaining normal physiological functions.
3. Warming Yang to Promote Diuresis: Heishunpian helps warm and activate yang qi to promote fluid metabolism, effectively treating edema and difficult urination caused by yang deficiency with fluid retention. It is often combined with Poria (Fuling) and Atractylodes (Baizhu) to warm yang and strengthen the spleen, promoting fluid metabolism and excretion, reducing edema, and improving abnormal fluid metabolism.
4. Dispersing Cold to Relieve Pain: Heishunpian strongly dispels cold pathogens and relieves pain. It treats cold-damp bi syndrome, alleviating cold pain and limited movement in limbs and joints. It also treats headaches, epigastric pain, and dysmenorrhea caused by cold invading the channels, expelling cold pathogens, promoting circulation, and relieving pain caused by various cold-related conditions.
5. Warming Channels to Promote Circulation: Heishunpian warms and promotes the circulation of channels and blood vessels, enhancing qi and blood flow. It improves gynecological disorders such as irregular menstruation, menstrual abdominal pain, and amenorrhea caused by cold-induced blood stasis, as well as frostbite due to cold invading the skin. It disperses cold and promotes circulation, ensuring smooth flow of qi and blood, and alleviating stagnation and pain caused by cold.
Heishunpian is a toxic traditional Chinese medicine and must be used with strict dosage control to avoid poisoning caused by overdose. It should be used cautiously in pregnant women and individuals with weak constitutions. When using Heishunpian for treatment, it should be administered under the guidance of a TCM physician and should not be used without professional supervision.
